The rise of SpaceX and Elon Musk’s bid to resurrect America’s space travel ambitions are the focus of a new Netflix documentary. Return to Space is being billed as an intimate portrait of the first crewed mission launched from US soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.
The documentary follows NASA veterans Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley, and their families in the leadup to the launch on the private rocket and spacecraft. It then takes viewers along for the ride to the International Space Station (ISS).
Oscar-winning directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin were offered rare access to document the historic moment. The filmmakers were able to go behind the scenes in mission control with Musk and the SpaceX team as they brought the crew back to Earth for a dramatic splashdown return.
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The mission in Return to Space is not the first time SpaceX has sent a spacecraft to the ISS. They became the first private company to do that with flight Dragon C2+ in May 2012.
History of SpaceX
SpaceX is an American aerospace manufacturer and a provider of space transportation, based in Hawthorne California. It was founded in 2002 by Musk with the aim of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonisation of Mars.
The company has achieved several firsts since its founding. In September 2008, it launched the first privately-funded fully liquid-fuelled rocket to reach orbit.
At the end of 2010, it was the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft. Then, in May 2012, it became the first private company to send a spacecraft to the ISS with flight Dragon C2+.
The Dragon delivered cargo to the ISS. After the flight, SpaceX’s private equity valuation nearly doubled to $2.4bn.
Some more firsts followed for SpaceX - though its major milestone is the one featured in Return to Space. In May 2020, the company successfully launched the two NASA astronauts into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft - sending them to the ISS.
This was the first time a private company had autonomously docked a crew-capable spacecraft to the ISS. The mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Is there a documentary about Elon Musk on Netflix?
Return to Space is available to Netflix subscribers now. Elon Musk is featured in the trailer for it, saying: “Earth is the cradle of humanity, but you cannot stay in the cradle forever.
“We should think more about, what’s the future we want? For me, it’s about making sure we become a spacefaring civilisation.”
Return to Space release date
The documentary landed on Netflix this morning (Thursday 7 April) at 8am UK time. It runs for 2h 8m.
